THE DINNER DAILY RESOURCE GUIDE The goal of the Dinner Daily has always been to help busy folks strapped for time put delicious, inexpensive and healthy meals on the dinner table. With that in mind, the purpose of this resource guide is to provide practical tips and ideas to get the most out of our service and give you more flexibility to get the job done. Whether you need to substitute a recipe ingredient or figure out how to keep the kids busy while you are cooking, we have ideas for you: • Get dinner on the table faster and with less frustration • COVID 19 and tips for breakfast and lunch • Tips on storing fresh produce • Our favorite kitchen tools • Make your own kitchen staples • Handy substitution guide (for when you’re missing recipe ingredients) GET DINNER ON THE TABLE FASTER WITH LESS FRUSTRATION MAKE IT AHEAD OF TIME • Dinner may be at 7 pm, but there is no reason to • Freezer meals are your friend. Cook a double avoid getting a head start. Slow cookers recipes batch of dinner and freeze half for another night. are the go to for this (use the pencil icon on your • If you have the time, then wash, dice and chop menu page for keyword slow cooker), but if you your fresh produce three days in advance. Store are home and find yourself having free time in the them in containers lined with a damp paper towel. morning or afternoon, start cooking dinner then, Your produce will be ready the moment you start let it cool, refrigerate and then re-heat as needed cooking, and as a bonus if the kids need a snack, for dinner. It will still be perfectly fresh and then fresh fruit and vegetables are at the ready. delicious. Tip: if anything needs a crispy texture, re -heat under the broiler function. • Our database is packed with recipes that can be made ahead of time. With your meal components • Precook rice, beans, potatoes, quinoa and pasta ready to go, getting dinner on the table is a breeze. and store in sealed containers or resealable bags. Use the search box in your menu with the key These are all things that hold well for at least 3 words “make ahead”. days in your refrigerator. GET THE KIDS INVOLVED There are lots of ways kids can be involved that don’t require a lot of supervision or management on your part – here are some of our favorites! • If your kids are old enough, then have them set the • Have the kids create a playlist for dinner. This is table. Make it special by having them pick some especially easy if you have a digital assistant like leaves or flowers from the yard for an easy and Alexa or Google Nest. beautiful table centerpiece that will make them • Let them make fancy ice water—chopped fruit or proud. citrus are simple and easy additions. • If you have a garden have them select a few fruits, • Have the kids feed the pets - after all, they are part vegetables or herbs to add to a simple salad. of the family too! BE A BIT FUSSY: MAKE YOUR EVERY DAY SPECIAL It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle of just getting it all done, but slowing down and making an event of something ordinary is worth your time. Take the opportunity to use the nice plates, glass and silverware. Spread out a tablecloth. Play music. Make a toast at dinner. Light a candle. You don’t have to do all these things, but being a little bit fussy can lead to dinner being something the whole family looks forward to every night. Even just a tiny gesture can go a long way for you and your family’s morale. COVID 19 AND TIPS FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH The COVID-19 pandemic has launched us into a new reality—one that may involve working in makeshift home offices, educating children attending virtual school, and, in a lot of cases, doing both. Certainly, we are spending a lot more time in our homes, and that includes preparing and eating most of our meals. Even though we are home more, the demands on our time have been amplified by “having to do it all”. The Dinner Daily has got you covered for dinner. However, it can be incredibly overwhelming to figure out healthy and easy breakfasts, lunch and snacks on top of everything else we must do. Fortunately, with an eye focused on simplicity, we don’t have to compromise on providing healthy meals for our families even through these difficult and unprecedented times. COOK IN BULK AHEAD OF TIME • Roast extra vegetables (like onions, bell peppers, • Wash and cut fruit 3 days in advance for easy potatoes) on a sheet tray while you cook dinner. snacking for kids. Fresh fruit is also excellent to Refrigerate for your lunchtime pasta or sandwich throw in smoothies or top yogurt for breakfast. or add to your scrambled eggs for breakfast. • Hard boil a dozen eggs to add to sandwiches or • While you are grilling chicken for dinner, throw on sliced up for breakfast. They are also an excellent a few more thighs or breasts for lunch the next protein source for snacks. day. ASSEMBLE, DON’T COOK • When it comes to breakfast and lunch, few of us • Salads, sandwiches, and smoothies don’t require are in the mood for breaking out a sauté pan or any cooking and are delicious too. Just grab your firing up the grill. Take the work out of cooking by previously chopped, cleaned, and portioned ingre- bulk preparing meal components (i.e. protein, dients and assemble for salads or sandwiches or in grains/starch, fruit vegetables, dairy) in advance, the case of smoothies, blend. and simply assembling them when breakfast and lunch roll around. RE-HEAT THE RIGHT WAY Eating leftovers is an obvious route for solving the “what’s for lunch” question, but for many people it lacks appeal due to loss in original texture. Often, that has to do with the re-heating technique: • If something requires a crispy texture, like roasted • For reheating rice, quinoa and pasta, use the mi- potatoes, place them on a sheet tray and under- crowave, but be sure to cover with a damp paper neath the broiler. towel to keep it from drying out while it heats up. NEED LUNCH IDEAS? USE THE SEARCH BOX ON YOUR MENU USING KEY WORDS • Our “dinner” recipes are designed to be healthy, • You can even search by ingredients, so if you have delicious, and quick to prepare. They are also great leftover produce (like corn or bell peppers), then for lunch. On your menu page, use the pencil icon you can find recipes in our database that feature to search for the following key words: lunch, soup, them. Tip: if you don’t have the other ingredients, salad, sandwich. take a look at our Ingredient Substitution Guide (included below) to help complete the recipe. TIPS FOR STORING FRESH PRODUCE IF IT HAS BEEN PREPPED OR CHOPPED IN ADVANCE, THEN REFRIGERATE If you are prepping in advance, then wash, cut, and store your produce in a sealed container lined with a damp, but not wet paper towel. Use within 3 days. IF IT IS LEAFY, THEN REFRIGERATE • Leafy greens and herbs are delicate and wilt quickly without some moisture. That’s why grocery stores often use open refrigerators with overhead sprayers that mist them periodically. You can recreate this by first gently washing and drying your greens. Then store them in the refrigerator, wrapped in a damp paper towel that is then placed inside a sealed container or resealable plastic bag. If you are going to use your greens within the next 2 days, you can skip this process, but keep them in their plastic bag in the crisper drawer. • Basil is an exception, store it at room temperature with its stems in a glass of water. IN GENERAL, KEEP FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SEPARATE FROM ONE ANOTHER • Many fruits (especially bananas, apples, melons, pears and peaches) release a gas called ethylene which hasten the ripening and eventual rot of other produce. So keep your fruits separate from your vegetables (which tend to be ethylene sensitive). You may even want to keep the aforementioned super ethylene producers away from each other, unless you are using them to help ripen other fruits. • Avoid mixing your fruit in a bowl. Store on an open platter to provide circulation. By keeping things separated you can easily monitor what is in your inventory and use them before they spoil. REFRIGERATION SLOWS DOWN THE RIPENING PROCESS If fruit is unripe, don’t refrigerate. However, once ripe you can refrigerate if not eating it right away FRUITS TO ALWAYS REFRIGERATE • Berries are very delicate. Use them right away or • Apples will keep their crunchiness in the crisper keep them in the refrigerator and consume them longer. If left out, they produce a mealy texture. within the next 2 days. You can extend their life by removing them from their package, washing them and laying them in a single layer on a tray or plate lined with paper towel. PRODUCE STORAGE CHEAT SHEET STORAGE METHOD TYPES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Store at room temperature unripe bananas (kept away from other produce), basil (with stems in a cup of water), cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, onions, potatoes including sweet (in a dry and cool cabinet), shallots, watermelon, winter squash (butternut, spaghetti), zucchini, tomatoes Store at room temperature until avocados, mangoes, pineapple, bananas, apricots, kiwis, ripe, then chill in refrigerator peaches, pears, plums Store in the refrigerator apples, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, cilantro, corn (in the husk), chives, leafy greens, grapes, green beans, leeks, lemons, lettuce, limes, mushrooms (in a paper bag), parsley, raspberries, strawberries, summer squash, thyme, rosemary OUR FAVORITE KITCHEN TOOLS Cooking can definitely be a labor of love – when done right.